After enjoying the relaxing walk along Sumida river and capturing the cherry blossom trees in bloom, I was now going to get on a boat to Odaiba — a major shopping and entertainment district in Tokyo Bay.

I paid ¥1310 (₹750/$11.5/€10) for my one way journey to OdaibaMy boat had arrivedI sat inside for a whileThat golden building belonging to Asahi breweries is meant to resemble a beer mugAsahi Beer Hall with the “golden turd” on topIt didn’t take me long to go up to the top of the boatSeemed like the majority of the passengers chose not to sit down belowPassed many interesting looking buildings along the way

Look like a pricey apartment complex. Must offer amazing views though.More skyscrapersThat’s the site of the new Tokyo Olympic stadiumWe were now in Tokyo Bay — and that’s Rainbow bridgeIt’s called the Rainbow Bridge because at night, the bridge gets illuminated in vibrant coloursWe were about to dock at Odaiba boat stationThat’s the iconic headquarters of Fuji TV, one of the major broadcasters in Japan

That’s an observation domeIt was time to disembarkThere’s a beach hereThere are two major malls facing the bay. I went inside Decks, mostly because it had a massive SEGA Joypolis.Unfortunately I couldn’t go in and check out the arcades until I purchased an entry ticket, which I just couldn’t justify purchasing given how little time I had in OdaibaI went up to the top floor of Decks and found some interesting shops. This had classic arcade machines.Lucky Box is a shop where you pay different sums of money and select random boxes. Inside are gifts and products ranging from cheap stuff to expensive products. Savvy business idea I must say — especially if YOU get ripped off 🙂Yup, a shop dealing in only Michael Jackson merchandise 🙂Decks also houses a Madame Tussauds and LEGO experience center¥204 for a packet of green tea flavour Kit Kat at a beauty chain store. Just keep this price in mind.Now it was time to see the main reason I came to Odaiba. For that I headed to Diver City mall.The giant Gundam statue!At 18 metres (59 feet) in height, it was built by Bandai to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise

For the uninitiated, Mobile Suit Gundam is an anime series that first aired back in 1979 and continues to be a popular Japanese pop-culture figure. There are Mobile Suit Gundam movies, TV series, video games and of course, model kits called Gunpla. This giant Gundam was officially opened to the public in 2009 and since then it has moved around to different sites in Tokyo quite a few times. But it currently stands in front of Diver City mall. Clever move on part of the mall’s management considering how many visitors this giant robot attracts everyday.

This temp store was selling Gunpla model kits but they were priced slightly higher than what I had seen at Yodobashi Akiba and Bic CameraI don’t usually pose for photos but I had to get one in front of this awesome creation

(This version of Mobile Suit Gundam was what I had assembled in this post about the Gunpla kit I had purchased)

At periodic intervals, it moves it head, the eyes blink and steam blows out of its jetpack

I arrived just in time to watch it move. Honestly it’s not much but I should have captured it on video anyway. The timings for when Gundam moves are 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, and 5:00 pm.

Here’s one long panorama from the backThere were many caution signs all over its body so I wonder what mechanicals, if any, are inside each componentThere’s a nearby Gundam Cafe too!And if that isn’t Gundam enough for you, step inside Diver City mall and head to the seventh floorThis is Gundam Front Tokyo. An experience center which houses a museum (paid admission) and a Gunpla storeNot just any Gunpla store. This place has on display every Gunpla kit ever made!From the simpler, more commonly available Gunpla kits…… to really exclusive, limited edition (and expensive) model kits

Whichever model is available for sale, you may ask the staff for it and they will get it for you from their store room. But again, the prices here were higher than what I found at Yodobashi Akiba and Bic Camera.

The store also showcases upcoming Gunpla modelsThese are the different types of Gunpla kits available, based on size and complexity

Remember how much that packet of green tea Kit Kat was selling for outside Decks? Here inside the mall at department store filled with Chinese tourists, the same packet was going for ¥500!The package tourists come in droves and the buses are all parked outside. I guess that’s the problem with packaged tours — you get little exposure to everything else outside of what you are shown and told by your guide.

Anyway, I decided to leave Diver City and head to Venus Fort mall but I’ll work on that post much later. I also visited a massive Toyota exhibition building. It’s not super interesting (unless you love cars) so I will work on it later. I want to focus on publishing all the other posts I have pending first.